Post-Christmas

Well you guys, It was good seeing you! Haha, what an awesome blessing. Well I don't really have anything to say today. We talked on Thursday and then Friday we watched our movies, had a lunch appointment, and did some missionary work. and then Saturday we visited a lady in the branch and talked with a big group of scouts. Haha that was pretty cool :)

   We also did quite a bit of finding. Lots of it. We will also do some more finding tonight! Yay! Haha it really isn't bad as long as you have a good attitude about it. If you're positive, people will stop. :) We actually met some pretty cool people in Pozzuoli yesterday. On of them invited us to their house next Sunday to have some fresh Spaghetti alla Ragù yum!!! 

   But yeah. That's about it. Today for P-day we went to the theater here in Napoli it's huge! It is by Via Toledo if you want to look it up. We got to stay and watch a little of the rehearsal for the nutcracker. They are opening tomorrow so it was pretty good :) Way cool! I really like that stuff. The arts are really awesome. So yeah. That's it! Thanks again for the great Christmas and for being such a great family! Haha keep it up and I'll talk to you next week :) Ciao!

   Love, Anziano Rigby   

Christmas!!

(Pictures of Napoli Specialized Training, originally from Pres. and Sis. Waddoups' blog)

Hey guys! 

   Wow, I can't belive that Christmas is in 3 days!!!  It is crazy that time flies so fast.  It seems like it was not that long ago when I was Skyping you for Mothers Day.  And here we are!

   This last week was good. We again did a lot of finding, but we are meeting some cool people who will hopefully turn into investigators.  Last night we went to Pozzuoli and did caroling.  It was good! Haha, it was way fun.

   So my plans to bring Christmas to a couple kids is still gonna happen I think, but it will not be with the ward. Nor at a hospital as I had hoped. :(  Instead we are going to take it to some of the people we have gotten to know here in Pozzuoli.  It should be good.  

   As far as the e-mail about being district leader, I don't know why that was sent to me now.  Or to you for that matter!  Haha, I'm not district leader right now.  I was in Pescara, but Anziano Turner is the DL here.  Haha, boh.  I don't know.

   Well, I am really excited to see you all!  I love you!  And yeah, 10 or 11 your time Christmas morning.  Boo-yaw Diggidy.  Till then!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Christmas!

Hey!  Merry Christmas!

   Well, this week has been good.  I saw Anziano Jones off and I am excited for him.  He will do great. Anziano Pope is my new comp.  He is great!  He has lots of good ideas, he's hard working, he has a vision, and he loves the work.  

   This week we did a lot of finding.  In fact, that's pretty much all we did!  Haha, but we have gotten quite a bit of contacts and we are growing our pool of people to teach (hopefully).  We met these two really nice older ladies on the street while we were waiting for a bus. One of them knew the missionaries a ways back and the other had never heard of us.  We talked to them for a good half hour and they really liked us, and we really liked them.  At the end, they both wanted to hear more and the lady that had never heard of our church before invited us over to her house for lunch this next Sunday. She has 4 children and 7 grandchildren.  We're hoping that at least some of them are visiting because it will be right before Christmas.  I have a really good feeling about it.  I think something will come out of it. 

   Other than that, we are just looking for opportunities to serve and finding ways to spread Christmas Joy!  The world is too sad.  It needs some brightening up. :)  I really don't have anything else to say.... Haha, I'm really excited to see you all next week!  :)  I hope you are all doing well.  Keep up the good work! 

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Dicembre!!

Hey guys!

   Alright, well I don't have much time today.  We need to take a train here soon to Caserta to see La Reggia.  It is a big palace that was in the first Star Wars movie?  I don't know.  Either way, it should be petty cool :)

  This week has been pretty good?  Haha, pretty much all our investigators have vanished. They have either moved or lost interest.  So we have spent the entire week finding in the rain!  Haha, it was pretty cold, but it was good.  We met some cool people and hopefully they will become new investigators.

  We had transfer calls this week and Anziano Jones is leaving to Terni!  I'm really sad to see him go, but I'm sure he will love Terni.  He is a good missionary and a good guy.  Anziano Pope will be my new companion.  Haha, that will be fun!  I hear he is pretty energetic and on the ball so that will be good for me.  I need some "new missionary fire" right about now.  :P 

  So we have been talking about doing some type of service thing for Christmas, and we want to take toys and sing to kids in the hospital for Christmas!  It started out as just us as missionaries but now we are making it an activity for the ward.  It will be really cool if we can get them all to come!  I really hope that it all works out.  I just want to make a couple kids happy this year for Christmas.  I think we will also go around and carol a little bit.  Comunque, I am really excited for this Christmas.  It is crazy that it is already Christmas time again. ...where does the time go?  Oh well.  Haha 

   I love you guys!  Take care and I'll see you soon!  Love you!

   -Anziano Rigby

Dicembre!

Haha, and a picture of me. ...wait a sec,  I have glasses on.  Haha, sooo... I went to the optics place this week and got some glasses.  Mostly because I like to wear them once in a while, but while I was there they asked if I wanted my eyes checked for free. "Sure why not?"  It turns out I have astigmatism in one of my eyes…?  It's not bad though, just a little.  So yeah, now I have glasses.  Cool story, I know. :P

Alright there peeps,

   Well, this week has been alright.  Haha, we are doing a lot more finding these days.  A lot of our prior investigators either cannot meet with us or they don't respond.  It is not very easy to grow the investigator pool here and sometimes it can be frustrating coming home after a long day of finding and not having much to show for it.  And it is hard when people don't want to talk to you.  One thing I have learned on my mission is that rejection is inevitable, but failure is an option. We can't control what other people do, but we can control how we react.  If we stay positive we can achieve anything, but once we let ourselves become distressed or down it is really hard to do anything.  But God always loves us.  He is constantly with us and is proud of what we are doing.  And then there is Jesus Christ that knows exactly how we feel.  He too had people reject him.  He was spit on and even kicked out of his own home town.  His very friends and neighbors asked him to leave.  That would be pretty hard.  I know that he is watching us and he is anxiously engaged in helping us.

   We met with Francesco this week and it went well for the most part. He has a baptismal date for the 13th but it might need to be moved... he has some things to do before he can be baptized.  Also him and his family just moved and they are now pretty close to Castelamare.  He is definitely out of our area so we will need to pass him to the missionaries over in that area.

Alright! Well, this was us at the Thanksgiving dinner activity! Haha, one of us before the meal…and one of us after!  Haha, jk.  But, that's what it's supposed to look like.  ;)

Alright, this is a selfie of me with the poor turkey.  Haha, somehow I was chosen to cut the roast beast, so...woo-hoo!  Haha, trial through fire!

   

And then all my african friends!  They are all members of the branch here. :)

   Haha, yesterday when we got to church the President of the branch kindly approached me and asked me to give a talk in Sacrament meeting... Yayyyyy... so I spent the first hour of church prepping for that.  I decided to do it on Christ's role in our salvation, and what we need to do for our own salvation.  I kind of based it off of Helaman 14:15-19.  I think that was the reference... He talks about how Christ took upon himself the fall of Adam free of charge.  He has done that, and given us each a perfect body after the resurrection.  We don't have to work for that.  But our personal salvation very much depends on our choices here.  I think it went okay... It was pretty nerve-racking!

Other than that, not much happened.  We celebrated Thanksgiving last week really. This week we had a little party with English course to celebrate, but nothing else. Kennedy, a member from Ghana, invited us over to have some cake with him for his birthday.  It was awesome!  He is so nice and really a cool and funny guy.  I have really been blessed with where I have been able to serve.  I am excited for Christmas here.

Here we go, puttin' ornaments on the tree....

 

   I received the advent calender and the ornaments. Thank you so much! Haha, they are awesome! Anziano Jones got his too.  He says thank you :)

   Well, that's about it.  We are going to go crazy on finding this week.  It will be fun!  Haha, take care you guys.  I love you!

   -Anziano Rigby

Mission accomplished!

Alright, the tree is finished!  It looks nice if I do say so myself...? :)

Thanksgiving

Hey guys!

  Man, this week has been a good one.  Nothing too crazy has happened…haha.

  We were able to get a baptismal date with Francesco for the 13th of December, and we were also able to do a good amount of finding. We are really trying to find some more investigators.  It is not the easiest thing to do, but it is worth the effort.  

   I have learned some important lessons this week.  This week, as we were coming back from teaching a lesson, We met this lady at the bus stop who was interested in coming to the church. So she came with us to the church that night. We were teaching her and she broke down crying.  Come to find out, she had just run away from her family for various reasons. She was probably 55-60 years old. She didn't know where to go, or what to do.  Although I hardly knew this woman, I could not help but feel a love for her and a desire to comfort her.  Actually, let me say I wanted to help her be happy. We prayed together and searched for an answer.  In the end, me and Anziano Jones felt she needed to go back to her family.  At least to her children.  She did not like the answer, but that is what we told her and that is what God was telling us.  In the end she did return to stay with a friend for the night and to figure things out a little better. But through the whole experience I was thinking about how God loves each of us, and he has given us families to help us.  Especially during this time of year where we have Thanksgiving, it really reminds me how blessed we really are.  And it makes me sad to see those people who don't find the family to be a place of refuge.  That is because Satan is trying to twist it and make the family become a thing of the past. 

   The family is of God.  This morning I was studying about Adam and the Plan of Salvation.  The Plan of Salvation is so important to understand.  I still don't understand it completely, but it is through the Plan of Salvation that God intends to bless his children, and that is what we are here to help people understand.

   Other than that, nothing really happened this week.  We did have a Thanksgiving dinner for the Branch, which was awesome!  I am going to send pictures right now.  But yeah,  I love you guys!   care and I'll talk to you soon!

   Love, Anziano Rigby   

Q & A

(Elder Rigby didn't send a main email today so here are some questions we asked, and his answers.  Enjoy.)

Are you considered part of Napoli?  

Umm, we live in what's considered Napoli.  But Pozzuoli is different.

Are you right on the ocean? 

The Church is pretty much on the ocean.  Haha, it has a way sick view over the bay.  And some beautiful sunsets!

What is it about the area that you like so much? 

Hmmm...good question.  I don't know. I really like the people. Haha, they're crazy.

I found that Elder Nathan Turner has a blog...and it looks like you are rooming with them? 

Yeah, we are in a four-man house. It's pretty fun.  Haha, he's a cool guy.

How was Pompeii? 

Pompeii was way cool! We went with a senior couple and they had gone many times so they gave us a good tour around the place. It is crazy what they knew, and how they constructed everything.

How large is your District and do you always spend your P-day with the District?  

So it is just us six - four anziani and two sisters. We do P-day together as anziani.

Do you have Thanksgiving plans? 

We actually have a Ward Thanksgiving activity this weekend so that should be fun :)

One of the other elders in Elder Rigby's apartment keeps a blog also:

eldernathanturner.com

You might enjoy stopping by there to learn more about the work occurring in the Pozzuoli/Napoli area.

Picture of the Pozzuoli church building from Elder Turner's blog

Pozzuoli

Hey guys! 

   Haha, okay, well I don't have much time again today.  We are going to Pompeii and we need to grab our train pretty soon.  But, boy, do I love it here!  Haha, it is awesome.  It's a little hectic trying to learn another city, but that's part of the work.  It's coming along.  So our work is a little slow right now.  A lot of our investigators are busy and can't meet, and so we are doing more finding!  I always seem to have to do finding.  Hmm.  Haha, but it's cool.  We are going to find an awesome couple and we are going to give them the gospel!  I hope anyway…

   English course is cool here.  The people are really nice and we have fun.  The people on the street are also really nice.  Haha, the other day there were some girls taking a picture.  I asked them if they wanted me to take it for them.  They were trying to take a selfie though, but they asked if we wanted to join so we did.  Haha, I like when people are open like that.  It makes life easier.  Umm, yeah.  I really don't have anything to say.  I really like it here.  It's pretty, the work is good, and we're having fun. 

   Well, I love you all.  Take care and I'll talk to you later!  Ciao!

 

   Love, Anziano Rigby

(And here are a few lines from the quick email he sent his mom this week:)

   

   Yeah, I hurt my knee playing soccer, but it's doing better.  I still have a little limp, but thankfully it hasn't kept us too held up in regards to work.  Priesthood blessings.  They work!

  Mmm, yummy vegan food!  Haha, I actually kind of miss that stuff.  I really miss eating healthy. There's just so much pasta and pizza here.  It all makes you feel yucky.  Haha.

   Yeah, I actually saw Whitney  last week when I came down (she is our next-door neighbor who is also serving in the Rome mission)!  Haha, she was at the train station.  We talked for a couple minutes before she got on the train.  Weird.  Haha.

  Love, Anziano Rigby

Napoli!

Hey guys! 

   Haha, okay so I don't have much time at all but, man, the last two days have been crazy!  Man, I finally got here on Thursday and it has been nonstop work since then.  We have a lot of stuff to do here and I am super stoked to get it rolling.  I am working on learning the new area and it is turning out to be difficult!  But step by step, I am getting it.

   The ward here is way cool and way different than any other ward I have served in. Well, I guess it's a branch.  But it's about 1 third Italians, 1 third Africans, And 1 third Americans.  It is crazy hearing so much English.  Haha, we get to do a lot of translation.  Haha, they were short on people in Primary so I even got to teach a class...?  Haha, in two languages.  Fun stuff  :) 

   Today we went to Napoli and had zone soccer which was really fun. Then we went and ate Napoli Pizza! Yum!  Haha, it's pretty good.  

   Well, I have to go, but I love you all and thank you for your letters and what not.  It really keeps me going  :)  Take care and I'll talk to you later.  Ciao!

Transfers!

Bowling on P-day

Hey Guys!

   Haha, alright, well we had transfer calls and I am being transferred to Pozzuoli!  Woohoo!  Haha, my new companion will be Anziano Jones.  No, not my companion in the MTC.  This Anziano Jones is pretty new to the mission.  I am way, way excited.  I hear he is way cool.  Haha, I also know that he is a really good cellist?  Haha, he plays the cello really well.  Like, professional, so yeah.  That will be sick!  Haha  :)

   Well, this week I did a ton of stuff.  I learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube, I did ricerca (finding?) in the rain, I taught some awesome lessons, and I ate Fufu. And when I say Fufu I mean cow flesh and cow intestines...  :)  Good stuff.  Haha!

   So this week was pretty rainy.  It rained and rained and rained!  By the end of it all, it was pretty cold. We were bundled up in scarves and jackets.  Not many people wanted to talk because it was cold but, hey, that's fine  :)

   We were able to meet with Tyson again this week and we taught him about the Word of Wisdom. We had a lengthy discussion about it, but at the end he committed to stop drinking wine.  He doesn't smoke or anything, so that's good.  He is really good and wants to follow Christ.  Haha, but before that he made us Fufu.  Oh boy, that was an experience!  So I'll send pictures, but basically you have the Fufu which is just a flour mixed with water, and then you have the soup. We got to his house and he pulled out this soup which he had prepared the day before, and he started heating it up.  It started to smell not too great in the house and so I went over to see what was cooking.  Bad idea.  Haha, my stomach started turning just looking at it.  We sat down, and he gave us a bowl of soup and our Fufu. You then take a bit of Fufu in your hand and dip it in the soup (which is very slimy) and you eat it. The chunks of cow were pretty nasty.  Haha, I only ate a couple pieces.  If I ate any more I was going to throw up.  But thanks to some imagination and a lot of praying, we made it out alive.  :)

  

 We also met with a man named Mike.  He is also from Nigeria.  We met him on the street during a scampi (exchanges) and he is a friend of another investigator. We met him and talked about the restoration.  It was a great lesson.  The spirit was very strong, and we were able to point it out and bear strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.  Mike also bore testimony of the Savior which was amazing.  It was very strong and you could feel his conviction.

   We went to go find some other Africans this week and got to their apartment building, but they didn't answer so we went inside and started searching for their door.  We got to the second floor where there was a door with gospel stickers on the front. "Cleansed in the Blood of Jesus," "2012 our year of Victory," "When the Lord is with you, who can stand against you?" Yep, found it.  We ring and no one answers.  Again. ....there's voices.  Nothing. We stood there for 5 minutes knocking.  I guess they didn't want visitors.  So we left a restoration pamphlet taped to their door.  We walk out of the complex and there they are out on the porch.  "....Hi there."  Whoa, wait a sec, that's not the Africans we know? "We left you something to read if you are interested…?  It's on your door.  Bye!"  Hahahaha, they weren't very happy.  Oops.  Hey, who knows.  Maybe they will get baptized?

   Well, it's been a good time here in Pescara.  Tons of stuff has happened and it feels like yesterday that I got here.  I love this work and I love the mission! 

   I love you guys and hope you are doing well.  Take care and I will talk to you next week!  Ciao!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Cool graffiti

October ZC

Hey Y'all,

  Well, it's been a crazy week full of travel, and fun.

   So first we had Zone Conference.  I really enjoyed the Zone Conference, and the addestramenti (trainings).  It is so important to know how to teach and how to become better.   It is one of the most important things to learn in missionary work, in my opinion.  And that's what we talked about!  And it is really cool because that is one of my goals for this transfer - to become a better teacher.

   After we came back from the conference, we had a full day of lessons on Thursday and we fixed two baptismal dates.  It was really cool.  It showed the importance of what we had just learned. 

   One is named Tyson.  He's from Nigeria and he is a friend of a member.  We met him on the bus a couple weeks ago and he came to church last week, and then we taught him this week. He is really cool, and really humble.

   The other is Named Giovanna. She has known the church for a long time and has been off and on. We fixed a date with her, but she needs to commit a little more before she is ready to be baptized. We are working with her on that.

   We usually do some finding or gesso (chalk drawing) Sunday nights.  On the sheet for gesso we can put anything.  Once we put down a question about things that make us happy in life, another time we put a tree and names for genealogy, and this last time we drew a timeline with the names of prophets and what not.  It doesn't really matter what you put, it's just to get people to stop.  Haha, so yeah.  

   This Saturday we get our transfer calls and I think I'm out of here.  Who knows where I'll go?

   Today for P-day we're going Bowling again.  It was too fun and relaxing!  Haha.

 

   Well, I love you guys and hope you're doing well  :)  Talk to you later! 

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Rome East Zone Conference

(Some pictures from Pres. and Sis. Waddoups' blog)

Rome East Zone

Elder Rigby singing 'Glorious' from the movie 'Meet The Mormons.'

Pre-Zone Conference

Elder Rigby spending the night at the Mission Home the day before Zone Conference

General Conference

Hey there :) 

   Wow, it's been a crazy weird week.  Not in a bad way, just different, and long.  So first off, I got to do my Permesso di soggiorno this week so I'm not illegal.  And then we did a scampi (split) in Ascoli which was really good.  We did some good work and learned a few things. 

   Here in Pescara we are having a hard time getting appointments with our investigators. We are searching for more and we may need to drop a few.  They just don't have the desire to push and do the things they need to like coming to church, reading, meeting with us.  It is a little bit of a let down when they say no and give us an excuse…

   So right now we are doing some hard-core finding!  We also are meeting with members this week to start up the new ward mission plan! We are going to get all of the members to make a list of their friends, and then pray over it and over each name to see who they can invite to come to an activity, or to meet the missionaries, or to do a family home evening together. 

Doing gesso in the piazza.

   I really enjoyed general conference this last week. It was so good! I received answers to my questions and I know what I can do to be better.  It is amazing how we can receive personal answers to personal questions.  And as was taught over the weekend, "Spiritual questions call for Spiritual answers." What a true statement!  As a missionary I can witness that that is true. We cannot look at the things of God through physical eyes; it doesn't work. Nor can we expect to receive an answer to our spiritual questions if we are not putting enough time into them, or if we don't first act on the direction we receive.  To receive a testimony of the Book Of Mormon, we need to READ it and put the principles that it teaches us into practice.

   Right now I am listening to the Sunday afternoon session as I write to you.  The speaker is talking about receiving the blessings that we are given in our Patriarchal Blessing.  He asks if we are constantly working towards the blessings we are promised.  It is really good.  It's true.  I need to focus on that more.  It's not something that I have been doing.

Anziano Mika is a little tall for the Italian way of life...

   That's pretty much it.  Haha, If you haven't already, I invite you all to pick something you learned from conference and make a plan to implement it in your life.  You will see the blessings flow forth more freely in your life, you will feel the spirit more in your life, and you will gain a stronger testimony that this is the church of Jesus Christ.  I bear witness that it is.

   I hope you all have a good week.  I love you!

   Love Always, Anziano Rigby

   Well, I can't hardly believe it but September is passed and we're on to October.  The weather is cooling off, and the kids are back in school.  The piazza is calming down during the week and we are starting to get more appointments.  We were finally able to go visit our friend Enzo in Sulmona.  It was really cool.  We went there and had lunch with him and his wife, his daughter and her husband.  We talked about the word of wisdom a little bit and about our missions. 

   We were able to visit a couple members this week which was really fun.  They are awesome when we go, it's just the fact of getting the initial appointment.

   Haha, this week we did a bit of finding which was fun.  Haha, Anziano Mika is a magnet.  Everyone wants to talk to him and be his friend so we were able to talk with a good number of people and show them that we're not strange! :)

   Yesterday we had a fireside with the ward about missionary work and we are going to do a 40-day fast to start it off!  I was asked to explain that part and what we were going to do as a ward to get this dream of theirs up and going.  They want to have a chapel here in 3 years, and a stake in 10.  It will be tough but I think it's doable. 

   After that, we went to visit Franca Ricci because she is having problems with her back.  There we did some indexing with her, and I actually did one from Idaho.  It was obituaries from Nampa, Caldwell, and Fruitland.  Haha!  It was cool to do some from where I live.  I thought you might get a kick out of that. :)

   Well, I am glad you are all well.  I am doing well here and, yes, I am better now.  Thank you for the support.  I love you all!  I'll talk to you later! :)

    Love always, Anziano Rigby 

Give and take box.

I wasn't sure if I sent a picture of Franco's baptism, so here it is.

Hello, there.  :)

   Well, sorry this isn't gonna be very long.  Haha, I am a little sick and kind of tired.  I think this is the first time that I have gotten sick on the mission. And it's not even that bad, I just have a little bit of a sore throat.  I still have the probiotics so I am taking those and drinking tea!  Haha :)  Herbal tea.

Cool place near our house.

My favorite car in Pescara.  :)

   

Well, this week was good. We were able to meet with a couple of our potentials and one of them is really ready!  His name is Lucio.  He comes to English course and he is reading the Book of Mormon. We haven't been able to meet with him because he has been busy during the summer, but now he is free.  We talked to him about the Restoration and he accepted baptism.  He says if God tells him it is right, he will set a date.  We are going to teach him the Plan of Salvation tomorrow and we want to set a date.

 

  This week, while we were going to a lesson, we were on the bus and this girl came and sat by us. She knew the Church and had attended in Finland a couple months back. We were able to talk to her and invite her to come with us to Church here.  Me and Anziano Mika both felt the prompting to get her number right then, but for some reason we didn't.  Then she got up and said she had to get off right then.  We went on to our stop and got off a little disappointed that we didn't get her number. We still had 30 minutes until our appointment, and we felt we should walk back to see if we could find her.  We couldn't find her after twenty minutes so we caught another bus. And then, she got on the bus again!  It was a miracle! So we were able to talk to her again.  It reminded me just how important the Spirit is in this work.  And that God knows what he wants done. We need to listen and do his will.

Doggggs!

 

 That's about it for this week, nothing too special. Oh!  Haha, well yesterday Ascoli had a baptism and they did it at our church. So we got to go to that which was really fun.  And me, Anziano Mika, and Sorella Jackson got to sing. We sang A Child's Prayer. 

   Well I love you all and hope you have a good week! 

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Classic Italian streets.

We have friends everywhere here!
And we probably take a picture with random people on a daily basis.

  

Nice timing!  :)

Staying in Pescara

Hellooooo! Buon Giorno!

   Haha, well it's another P-day!  It's crazy how fast the time goes by.  We got our calls and I'm staying in Pescara with Anziano Mika!  Woo-hoo!  Haha, I'm doing three with my greenie!  I'm pretty excited about it :)  We're gonna have a good transfer.  We're gonna work harder than ever, and we are gonna baptize the entire city!

   Haha, the other day we were talking with this guy on the bus and he's a radio host here in Pescara and so we asked him if he does interviews and if he's ever interviewed Mormons before.  He said he hasn't and so we might do an interview!?  Haha, we need to call him and see.  He gave us his number so we can organize it.  It would be really cool.  Way scary, but way cool.

    We met with Giovanna this week and she is progressing.  We taught her the Restoration and she liked it a lot.  She had some questions about Adam and Eve, and about Prophets in general.  Her questions are sincere and she really needs the blessings of the gospel in her life.  She feels like she is alone in the world.  She just needs to see that God is here for us!  We just need to do our part to help Him help us.

   I am really excited for this transfer.  I know it will be really rewarding.  It will also be a learning experience.  Me and Anziano Mika are doing well.  He has really picked up on the Italian fast.  We are making new goals for the next transfer and they are looking really promising. We just need to work hard and follow the spirit in this work.  The spirit is the key.  And hard work.  Nothing happens by itself.

   So, lately I have been reading the Bible more.  I have a goal to finish it by the time I leave the mission.  So I started in Genesis and I am working my way through.  I really enjoyed Genesis.  There is a lot of history in there, and you get to see just how much the Lord wants to bless us and how he wants to bless us.  And that a lot of times the blessing don't come in the way we think they will.  But they come as we stay faithful and as we trust in the Lord's timing.  It is also really cool to see the generations from Adam and the layout of the 12 tribes.  I was reading the Lectures on Faith from the school of the prophets and it talks about how because Adam lived so long, he was alive or had just died when Moses was alive, and then Moses lived forever too.  Almost until Abraham was born if not until he was born. And then all the people in between lived long too.  So the point is, Moses pretty much got a first-hand account of the garden of Eden and everything else that happened.  Most important, a first hand account or testimony of God.  And then that was able to be passed down to Moses, and Moses and his sons were able to do the same thing for Abraham.  And then we have the Bible and all of these great testimonies.  But The concept of God wasn't just invented by these people.  Although it was a long time between Adam and Abraham, the account of what happened was kept pure because it only needed to be passed down a couple people.  Make sense?  I thought it was pretty cool :)  

   Alright, well that's about it for this week.  I love you guys and I'll talk to you in a week!  Ciao!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Hey there :)

  

   I'm really glad you got the package! Haha, I wasn't sure if it would get there okay.  I'll have to send another one :)

   Well this week has been good. We went to Rome for specialized training, and it was great!  I really felt the spirit and learned a lot.  We talked a bit about being consecrated missionaries. Being consecrated is so important to the work.

   We didn't have many lessons this week which was really lame.  Nobody could meet with us.  Literally no one.  We had one lesson with Franco.  Haha, I love him :)  So we did a lot of finding!  

   As we were finding, we had some cool miracles.  On Saturday we had nothing in the morning so we went out to find some new people. We had a lesson at three in Chieti so we decided just to stay out till then and grab something to eat in Pescara.  In the morning we had some success, and we were able to talk with some people and get a couple numbers.  And then on the bus to Chieti we started talking with this man named Giovanni.  He was really cool. He asked us a lot of questions and we were able to share the entire Restoration with him.  At the end we gave him a Book of Mormon and got his number to keep in contact, and set up our next appointment.  

   During all of this, we missed our stop and we were now heading up the mountain to the top.  So we decided to go to the top and catch a bus back, even though we would be late for our appointment.  But the bus stopped half-way up so we got off and started walking back.  Haha, it was going to take us a while so we thought "we might as well try to get a ride down."   We crossed the road and the first car came around the corner and slowed down to tell us it's not safe walking on the road because people speed really bad and could hit us.  We said we were sorry and that we would be careful.  He went 10 feet and then stopped and asked us if we needed a ride!  We said yes and squished into his Fiat with three other people.  We talked with the dad more and found out he knew English and that he used to have a pen pal from the states that was Mormon!  So he knew a lot about our religion and what we do.  He was not interested in meeting, but it was cool to see the connections.  He dropped us off at the bottom and we thanked him kindly. We made it to our appointment right on time.

    I know the Lord is watching over us.  And I know that he loves us.  It was a good experience and it reminded me that when we are doing what we are asked, we can expect miracles.

   Well I love you all.  Thank you for everything you do for me.  Haha, I don't deserve it!  I hope all is well, and I'll talk to you next week!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

(Elder Rigby's comments from another letter):   We get our calls this saturday.  I really want to stay one more here with Anziano Mika, but we'll see.

Lessons, finding, and friends

Rome West Zone Conference (all pictures for today were originally posted on Pres. and Sis. Waddoups' blog)

Hey y'all!

  Alright,  well I don't have a ton of time, but this week has been good!

  It is still pretty hot here, but the weather is cooling down. Today it's raining, and I hear it's supposed to rain all week?

 We have been doing some lessons, some finding, and some friend developing (it's always good to give missionaries a good name).

Anziano Rigby in the background

   This week we met with David finally!  Haha, he is cool, but kind of lost in the world.  His priorities are not set straight.  He says that he will be baptized if he finds it to be true, but he's not willing to put forth the effort.  He doesn't understand that the gospel is not something you can just do when you have free time. It's what you do everyday! It's part of you, and who you are!  So we are working with him.  We did a fast yesterday for wisdom to see if we can get him in church because he wants to come but there are some things at home keeping him from being able to come.

Photobomb!

   

We met this cool African kid on the bus last night that said he wants to be a missionary!  Haha, so we talked to him about what we do and he wants to get together sometime. So we exchanged numbers and we are gonna see what happens!  Haha, aka we're gonna baptize him!  It is cool to talk with people on the street because at the beginning they are almost always sceptical, but if they stick around they see that we are normal and kind of  cool.  Haha, and we are good people who are teaching about Jesus Christ! 

The work is good and I am happy. :)  I'm glad that you're doing well and having such a good time.  It's been good hearing from you.  Have a good week!

   Love, Anziano Rigby